Boston area colleges add online gambling warning for freshmen

In recent years, Boston area colleges have added warnings about playing poker online to their list of orientation topics for freshmen.

College officials say they keep adding new "don'ts" partly because the online world has brought new temptations, and also because many of today's college students have had their lives so structured and have been so indulged by parents that many lack basic street smarts.

At the University of Massachusetts orientations this summer, topics include how a profile on a website like Facebook or MySpace can hurt one's career and how quickly debts can mount from gambling online. UMass isn't alone in their warnings, two years ago Tufts University also added similar warnings including warning about how addictive multiplayer online games can be as well as online gambling.

Orientations give students a crash course in life on campus and are designed to help students stay out of trouble. College officials don't want to see their students getting themselves into academic trouble or financial trouble because of an online addiction.

News Added: 15 July, 2006

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